


The True Gift

by TillyJane175



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Fanfiction, barchie, barchiefanfic, barchiefic, riverdalefic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-27
Updated: 2018-10-17
Packaged: 2019-07-03 10:34:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15817146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TillyJane175/pseuds/TillyJane175
Summary: It hurts to let go, but sometimes it hurts more to hold on. Jughead can feel Betty slipping through his fingers and he'll do anything to stop it from happening but is it really what's best for both of them.





	1. Complicated Love

Betty and Jughead sat in a booth at Pop’s diner. Betty absentmindedly played with the straw in her milkshake, stirring the liquid over and over again, taking the occasional sip. She sighed and rested her chin on her hand. Jughead cringed, he could physically feel betty pulling away from him. This was the first time in almost two weeks that he’d been in the same room as Betty. Stuck at the Whyte Wyrm with serpent duties, Jughead had been neglecting his schoolwork whilst it seemed Betty had thrown herself into hers. Whenever Jughead would ring to try and speak to her, she would always be stuck at the library unable to talk, even her texts were short and to the point, they were almost too painful for Jughead to read. He’d invited Betty out for a meal with the hopes of having a romantic evening filled with meaningful conversation, instead, the night had just been filled with one-word answers and awkward silences.

Betty’s phone dinged, reverberating within the silence that surrounded them, picking it up from the table she checked the message before sliding the phone into her jacket pocket.

“That’s my mom, she wants me home.” Pushing her milkshake away from her, she slid out of the booth. “I should go.” Jughead went to stand up.

“I’ll give you a ride home.” He offered, he’d rode his bike here, it wasn’t that long ago that Betty would have Jughead pick her up just to ride around the side roads of Riverdale, he was hoping to do the same tonight.

“No it’s ok, I drove my mom’s car here. Well, I’ll call you later.” She bent down and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “I love you.” Jughead said as she turned to walk away.

“You too, Jug.” Was the only reply he got, she didn’t even turn around. Jughead watched her retreating form from the window of Pop’s, watching her walk away was like a steel knife to his heart. He waited for the brake lights to fade from view before throwing some money on the table and making his way home.

Parking his bike at the side of the trailer jughead tore his helmet from his head as he made his way inside, throwing the helmet on the sofa a bit harder than he needed to, he sighed. Why was this so hard, it had always been so easy between him and Betty, they never even had to try, now he worried he was losing her and he didn’t know what to do. Hearing a creak behind him, Jughead turned around spotting his dad walking into the kitchen.

“Jug, Hey, I uh, thought you had a date with Betty tonight.” FP said as he ran his fingers through his hair.

“Yeah I did, she had to leave though, her mom…” Jughead trailed off as he caught sight of Alice walking out behind his dad. “…wanted her home.” He continued as realisation dawned, Betty had lied to him.

“I didn’t ask her to go home, are sure she didn’t mean Polly?” Alice said trying to save the awkward situation. “She’s at home with the twins, maybe she needed some help.”

“Yeah, it was probably that. I’m heading out, don’t wait up.” He called out over his shoulder slamming the trailer door shut behind him. Pulling his phone out he tried Betty’s cell, it rang out with her voicemail eventually picking up. Slamming it back into his pocket Jughead starting walking in the direction of the Whyte Wyrm, he wasn’t much of a drinker but he could really do with a stiff drink right now.

                                                   ————————

Betty held the phone in her hand as she stared at the caller ID. She should really answer it yet she just couldn’t muster the energy from within her to speak to Jughead. Letting the call go to voicemail Betty tossed the phone towards the end of the bed before throwing herself backwards, picking up a pillow she pressed it over her face and released a pent-up, frustrated scream into the pillow.

“Want to talk about it?” Removing the pillow from her head Betty spotted Archie leaning against the door frame.

“I really don’t.” Betty replied as she tossed the pillow to one side and moved to sit up. “How long have you been stood there?”

“Not that long, Polly let me in. That sounded like a very stressful scream, we can work on our English assignment tomorrow if you’re not feeling up to it.”

“No, no, it’s fine, I got it out of my system.” Betty tried to reassure him with a weak smile.

“You sure you don’t want to talk about it.” Archie offered again. Betty shook her head.

“No, not right now, and certainly not with you.”

“Ouch.” Archie said, a look of hurt coming over his face.

“Shit Archie, I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean it like that, that sounded wrong.” Throwing herself back down on the bed she threw her arm over her eyes. “I think I need to scream into that pillow again.” Betty sounded so defeated. “It’s me and Jughead and it’s weird to talk about with you, I don’t want to drag you into our drama, you’re friends to the both of us.” Betty kept her eyes under her arm as she said this, Archie was the last person she wanted to be talking relationships with.

“Are you two fighting.” Archie asked moving from his spot by the door and sitting on the chair by her dresser.

“Ha,” Betty laughed sarcastically, moving to sit up once again “Think you have to actually see each other to be able to have an argument.” Archie opened his mouth to say something but Betty cut him off before he could speak. “Look, Archie I appreciate you trying to help but I meant what I said, it’s too weird talking about this stuff with you, now grab the English assignment, it’s in the third drawer in the dresser.” Betty told him. For the rest of the night they worked on their English assignment, Jughead’s name lingered on the edges of the conversation but Archie chose to respect Betty’s wishes and didn’t bring his name up once, not even when Betty’s phone rang, Jughead’s name flashing across her screen, they both simply stared at it until the ringtone faded out leaving a deafening silence in its wake. Archie had left not too long after that, Betty couldn’t help but feel like she had chased him from the room, he was probably desperate to help but too nice to disrespect Betty’s wishes. Pushing her books to the side, Betty picked up her phone and typed out a quick message to Jughead, it was easier to text him, she could keep it short and to the point, she didn’t have to worry about the awkward small talk that seemed to serve as most of their conversation these days.

**Sorry I missed your calls, I fell asleep**. **Speak to you tomorrow.**

Yet another blatant lie. Betty felt guilty, why was she leading him on, surely it would be better for both of them to end it, Betty just wasn’t happy anymore and it was unfair to Jughead to keep stringing him along, he obviously still cared for her deeply. Betty cared enough about Jughead to know it wasn’t fair to him, he should be able to be with someone who could love him back, Betty just didn’t love him like she used to.


	2. A Friend In Need

Jughead woke to the smell of vomit and a pounding head, looking around his room he could see he’d made it home but he couldn’t have been in a fit state, he’d tried to vomit in his trashcan at least, he may have missed it but the incentive had been there.

“Jughead, door.” He heard his father shout. Groaning he rolled out of the bed, at least he was still in last nights clothes so he didn’t need to throw anything on. Stumbling into the kitchen he caught a glimpse of fiery red hair seated on his sofa, but his first priority was not his guest, he needed liquid and he needed it fast, his lips were in danger of becoming stuck together, he found it odd that given the amount of liquid he’d consumed the night before, that his body could still be screaming out for more. After filling a glass with water from the tap he walked into the living room, throwing himself down on the sofa.

“I’d say you look like crap, but that would be an insult to crap.” Archie said as he looked Jughead up and down.

“Good morning to you too, Archie.” Jughead mumbled before taking a deep drink of water, it sat uncomfortably heavy on his stomach.

“Jesus Jug, you smell like a god damn brewery, how much did you drink last night?”

“Did you just come here to insult me, or was there a legitimate reason for your morning visit.” Jughead moaned, he really was not in the mood for whatever this was.

“First of all, it’s after lunch, and I just wanted to come to see you, it’s been a while since we hung out.”

“Well, you chose one hell of a day to play the role of besties. I know, I’ll let you hold my hair back while I vomit, friends do that don’t they.”

“I’m serious Jug, go shower and put some clean clothes on. We can load you up with some coffee from Pop’s.”

“Archie I am really not in the mood for this today, as you can see, I’ve got a killer hangover to nurse.”

“Come on, some fresh air will do you good. Go get dressed.” Sighing Jughead moved to stand up from the sofa.

“You’re not gonna give up on this are you?”

“Nope,” Archie grinned. “I’ve got no plans for the whole day, which means I can stay and bug you for as long as I need. Might as well give in Jug.” With a final groan, Jughead shuffled his way into the bathroom, slamming the door loudly to ensure Archie was aware he was not happy with this.

Sitting at Pop’s sipping coffee, Jughead had to admit he did feel better, he wouldn’t admit it to Archie though, he’d rather walk on broken glass than received one of Archie’s ‘I told you so’ smirks. As Jughead nibbled on a fry he looked up at Archie, he’d been talking, possibly for some time, but Jughead hadn’t heard a word.

“You didn’t hear a word of that, did you?” Archie said as though he’d just read Jughead’s mind.

“I could lie and avoid hurting your feelings, but that’s just not who I am, so no Archie, I didn’t hear one word.” Rolling his eyes Archie tried again.

“I said, how are you and Betty? I haven’t seen you two together in a while.” Jughead internally flinched, he didn’t really know the answer himself.

“Good, I think. She’s been busy with school and I’ve been busy with, you know, the serpents.” It was as honest as he could give, he thought they were fine but last nights date had been a disaster, he couldn’t even say they were fighting, you have to talk to each other to fight and Betty was now even ignoring his calls.

“Ah yes, the serpents, hows that going?” Archie asked, Jughead could see that he wasn’t really interested, Archie hated the serpents and everything they stood for, but at least he was trying.

“Good, good, I mean they practically run themselves, I just have to sort disputes out from time to time, make sure everyone’s staying above the law, that kind of thing.” Archie nodded as he half understood what Jughead was saying. “How are you and Veronica? Are you on speaking terms yet?” Jughead asked.

“No, but we’ve moved on from ignoring each other to saying a quick hello in passing, so I guess that’s some improvement.” Archie replied before taking a sip of his coffee. It must be hard for Archie, Jughead thought to himself, but unfortunately their relationship was doomed from the moment Hiram Lodge turned against Archie, you couldn’t possibly stay with someone who’s father hated you so much that he had you framed for murder. No one could prove it of course, just as no one could prove Archie had murdered that hick but he was still tainted from the accusations, whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty. Archie had taken it like a champ though, it must have infuriated Hiram, nothing gets to Archie unless it involves family and close friends.

“Yeah, I suppose it is,” Jughead replied to Archie, “you seem to be talking more than me and Betty.” Jughead said as he looked down at his empty cup.

“Want to talk about it?” Archie offered up, Jughead looked up at him and sighed. He normally wasn’t the type to go and ask for help from friends, he’d prefer to suffer in silence and wait for the issue to resolve itself, but after last night, the fear of losing Betty was becoming all too real and he’d do anything to stop that happening.

“Me and Betty, we’re going through a bit of a rough patch, she won’t even speak to me Archie, she’s ignoring my calls, she even lied to my face last night to get out of our date, I don’t know what’s going on, she’s pulling away and I’m powerless to stop it.” Jughead found that once he started the words just poured out of him, he must sound so pathetic.

“Have you tried speaking to her, asking her what’s wrong?” Archie asked, he was looking at Jughead with such pity, Jughead hated that.

“She won’t speak to me Archie, she won’t even give me a chance to ask her what’s wrong.”

“Betty can be pretty stubborn when she wants,” Archie offered up. “She’s been through a lot, with her dad and everything that’s followed, she’s probably just trying to work through it.”

“But I could help, she doesn’t have to go through this alone, has she spoken to you about any of this?”

“Erm no, we don’t really see much of each other outside of school.” Jughead sighed. He needed help, maybe his best friend would be willing to give a helping hand.

“What can I do Archie, I can’t lose her.”

                                                       ————————

Archie watched his friend as he sat across from him in the booth, he’d never seen Jughead so down. He certainly didn’t look like the leader of a dangerous gang, he looked like a broken man about to lose the best thing in his life. Archie could relate to what Jughead was going through, sort of, and not because of Veronica, no, because of Betty. Archie was in love with his best friend. He couldn’t act on his feelings though, not only because she was with Jughead but because he’d already made the terrible mistake of turning Betty down, he’d been an idiot. Archie realised his feelings for Betty were more than that of friends when she’d kissed him the night they chased the black hood. The kiss had been so sweet yet it had stirred something deep inside Archie, something he’d never felt before, not even with Veronica. He’d tried to push his feelings aside, but the longer they lingered the stronger they got. It’s why ending things with Veronica had been so easy, he knew they weren’t meant to be together. But Archie wasn’t heartless, he could never be that person who ruined someone else relationship for his own gain, that’s why he’d chose to lie to Jug about seeing Betty last night, it would look pretty bad if Betty lied to get out of her date and then spent the evening with Archie.

“You really need to speak to her jug, she’s trying to deal with this on her own and she’ll push you away, it’s what she does, she too damn proud.” Archie found himself thinking back to how Betty looked when the black hood was tormenting her, she had looked so broken, Archie had been furious that she’d been going through that alone, too stubborn to ask for help.

“How? I can’t even get her to stay in the same room as me.”

“Well it’s valentines next weekend, why don’t you arrange to do something, show her how much you care.”

“I dunno, I wouldn’t even know where to begin, I’m not really the most romantic person.” Archie laughed, Jughead was right, Archie couldn’t remember seeing Jughead do anything remotely romantic in the time he and Betty had been together. “Will you help me?” Jughead asked pulling Archie from his thoughts.

“What? I don’t know how..”

“Please Archie, you’re into all that romantic, sappy stuff, you must have some ideas floating around that head of yours.” Archie hesitated, he could just about get away without it acting on his feelings, could he really arrange romantic moments for Betty to enjoy with another.


	3. Trying

Betty ambled towards the kitchen, she was in dire need of some caffeine, she had spent most of the night tossing and turning.

"Good afternoon Betty, nice of you to grace us with your presence." Polly mocked from the kitchen table. Scowling in her direction Betty reached for the coffee pot. "Late night?" Polly questioned, wiggling her eyebrows with suggestion.

"What? No Polly, gross." Betty shouted.

"Hey, I was just checking," Polly added with a laugh. "You and Archie seem to be spending a lot of time together recently, I just assumed."

"We're just friends Polly, always have been, plus I'm with Jughead." Betty moved around the table and took a seat opposite Polly.

"I haven't seen him in a while, you two okay?"

"Yeah fine." Betty replied a little too quickly, why was everyone so concerned about her and Jug recently.

"Sounds convincing."

"What do you want me to say Polly. It's complicated."

"It's only complicated if you make it complicated." Polly responded.

"I'm sorry, when did you become a couples counsellor." Betty said as she rolled her eyes.

"I just see things, like last night, for instance, you went on a date with Jug yet you were back home by ten and Archie shows up ten minutes later." Polly wore a very suggestive look on her face. "Talk to me Betty." Polly sang. Sighing Betty decided to offload onto Polly, it couldn't hurt to speak to someone.

"I'm not sure what's wrong, it's just recently, I don't look forward to spending time with Jug, our conversations feel forced, it never use to be this hard between us, we shouldn't have to try this hard."

"Betty, relationships aren't supposed to be easy, it can't always be like it is the beginning, where everything's still exciting and new, you have to work at relationships to try and make them work."

"I'm trying, it's just hard."

"You're not trying Betty, not if you're running out on him whenever you get some alone time. Don't give up yet Betty, I've seen how happy he's made you. Give it time and put in a little work, you'll get through this."

"I suppose," Betty conceded with a sigh. "When did you get so wise anyway."

"Must come with motherhood, push out a kid and you gain infinite knowledge." Polly said with a giggle."

"You're a loser." Betty said laughing. Walking over to the sink, she rinsed her cup and walked back up to her bedroom. Did she really want to work things out with Jughead, her head was all over the place recently, the only thing that seemed to keep her sane was her late-night conversations with Archie, it was just mindless chatter between two good friends, so why did Betty feel like she was cheating on Jughead every time she invited Archie over.

                                                   ——————————

Jughead sat at the bar in the Whyte Wyrm, he held his phone in his hands as though it were a ticking time bomb ready to go off at any moment. Right about now Betty should be receiving the first of her gifts. With valentines being seven days away Archie had come up with the idea of seven days of gifts, starting with a bouquet of Betty's favourite flowers, pale pink peonies, delivered to her home. Jughead had been hesitant at first, he was never one for romantic gestures but according to Archie, Betty was. Jughead hoped this would work. The phone vibrated in his hand, startling him, he almost dropped the phone in his eagerness to answer it.

"Hello." He answered as casually as he could, he didn't want Betty to know he'd been anxiously waiting for her call.

"Hey Jug," Betty breathed down the phone, Jughead's heart skipped a beat, he couldn't remember the last time Betty had been the one to call him first, surely this was a good sign. "I got your flowers, they're beautiful, thank you." Jughead relaxed for the first time since his conversation with Archie.

"I'm glad you like them."

"They're my favourite flowers, erm, are you busy right now? I was going to grab some food from Pop's, do you maybe want to join me?"

"Yes, I mean, yeah if you want me too."

Agreeing to meet at Pop's in half an hour they both hung up and Jughead smiled to himself, it felt like he was finally back on the right track.

                                                ———————————

Betty arrived at Pop's before Jughead, she took a seat at a booth away from the window, she didn't want to be distracted tonight, she was following Polly's advice and at least trying tonight. Jughead arrived not long after Betty, taking a seat opposite her she smiled at him.

"Have you eaten yet? We didn't really have anything in at home and I'm starving." Betty rambled off. She felt nervous which was ridiculous, it was just Jughead.

"You know me, I'm always ready to eat." Betty laughed and she found it was a genuine laugh, maybe this wasn't the end for them.

After a late lunch of burgers, fries and milkshakes Betty and Jughead fell into conversation about school.

"Are you going to finish your classes?" Betty asked, she was concerned that he was becoming too wrapped up in the serpents, he couldn't see that his education was important as well.

"I'm not sure, the serpents take up so much of my time, I just can't see the point in a high school education when I've got the security of serpents."

"Jughead, getting an education is important, you can't predict what's going to happen in the future. Even just a high school diploma can open so many doors."

"I just don't see how I'll have time to do it." Jughead sighed, Betty could sense he didn't really want to talk about this.

"You make time Jug, if it's important enough you'll make the best effort you can, your dad can't be happy with you skipping school."

"He's not happy about it but he understands. It's my choice and I feel like my time could be better spent with the serpents."

"Just think about it jug," Betty reached across the table and grabbed hold of Jughead's hand. "I'd hate to see you throw away your future without properly thinking it through." Leaning back she smiled. "In the meantime, I'll speak to some teachers and grab some work for you. We could work together on them if you need to." Jughead smiled at her.

"Thank you Betty."

"Now speaking of schoolwork, I have an assignment that needs finishing before tomorrow so I should get back." Betty rose from the booth, placing a couple of bills down on the table.

"Yeah sure, do you want me to walk you back?" Jughead offered. Betty shook her head.

"No, I borrowed the car again, how come you didn't ride your bike here?" Betty asked when she realised he'd said walk.

"Oh, I erm, had a few to drink last night. Didn't want to risk it." Betty was slightly shocked, Jughead hardly ever drank, and never enough that he had to worry about driving the next day.

"Sensible. Do you want me to take you home then?" She asked Jughead shook his head.

"No it's fine, it's not too far to walk, thanks anyway."

"Ok then, well I'll call you later?" Betty said. Jughead nodded and Betty leaned in, placing a kiss on his lips, she let her lips linger slightly and she felt Jughead's hand gently touch her cheek. She kept her lips there whilst she waited to feel that spark, the same spark she used to feel whenever they kissed, it just wasn't there anymore. Pulling back Betty smiled down at Jughead.

"Goodbye Jug." She turned and walked out of the diner leaving Jughead sat in the booth.


	4. Dying To Care

Archie sat in the garage of his home, he'd been trying to come up with some new songs but kept hitting a blank wall, his fingers just wouldn't cooperate and whenever he tried to play a few simple cords, it sounded like a garbled mess. Picking up his phone from the workbench Archie saw he had a missed call from Betty. Placing his guitar on its stand he hit redial. Betty picked up on the second ring.

"Hey Betty, did you try ringing?"

"Yeah, I did. I'm working on the English assignment, have you finished yours yet?" Archie laughed.

"Betty am sure you already know the answer to that."

"You do know it's due in tomorrow don't you?" Betty said, Archie could hear the condescending tone in her voice

"Yes Betty I do know that, but we don't have English until after lunch, that gives me all morning to work on it," He could hear Betty sigh down the phone. "Betty, all my best work is produced when I'm under pressure, think of me as a lump of coal, put enough pressure on me and I'll produce a diamond." Betty laughed

"That's the biggest pile of crap I've ever heard. Well, I'm at home and willing to help you work on it if you'd like to come over again." Archie glanced around the garage, he wasn't going to be getting anything done in here, he'd hit a mental block, maybe a break would help, even if it was homework.

"Sure I'll be over in five."

After grabbing his school bag Archie walked next door, letting himself in he found Betty at the kitchen table surrounded by books. Throwing his bag down Archie took a seat opposite Betty.

"Have you got the stuff we worked on last night?" Betty asked

"It should be in my bag, I haven't touched it since then." Betty rolled her eyes.

"Of course you haven't. How do you expect to graduate if you don't do your work?" Betty questioned him whilst tipping the contents of his bag onto the table.

"I plan on getting a sports scholarship for college, I prefer brawn to books."

"You still need a C average for a scholarship." Betty interjected.

"Ah, but that's what I have you for Betty, you'll never let me fail, will you?" Archie jokingly pouted towards Betty.

"Shut up." She said tossing a pencil at his face. "Where's your copy of To Kill a Mockingbird?" Betty questioned him. Archie helped Betty root through the pile of books, coming up empty he shrugged his shoulders.

"I must have left it here last night, want me to go and check your room?" Betty shook her head.

"No it's fine, just use mine, I've marked out all the important points you can use." Archie quickly thumbed through the book.

"Why've you written all over the pages?" Archie questioned after seeing all the little notes and highlighted sections.

"Because that's what you're supposed to be doing in lessons Archie, taking notes." Betty huffed, exasperated.

After working for almost an hour Archie threw his pen down frustrated. "I'm pretty sure none of this makes any sense." Archie sighed.

"Give it here," Betty said reaching out for his paper. "I'm sure it's just fine." Archie watched as she read through his work. English was not one of his strong suits, he knew how to read and write, he didn't see the point in breaking down a novel written years ago, how was that going to help him at all once he left school. "This is good Archie, there's just a couple of areas where you need to explain the quotes you've used but other than that it's great."

"I'll do that later, my brain can't take anymore, plus I'm starving, do you have any food in." Archie asked as he rose from his seat ready to raid the cupboards.

"There's not much edible food in, Polly's all about organic food at the minute, she doesn't want the twins eating any artificial." Archie pulled his face as he assessed the food in the fridge. It was all green and healthy.

"Gross. Aren't you starving?" Archie asked.

"No, I had dinner with Jughead at Pop's earlier." Betty replied as she started to tidy the books from the table.

"Oh, have you two made up now then?" Archie asked as casually as he could, he knew that Jughead had arranged for some flowers to be delivered, it must have worked if she'd gone to lunch with him.

"I never said we were fighting Archie." Betty said raising her eyebrow at him.

"I know, but you were pretty upset yesterday."

"I was, but we weren't fighting, like I said, it was complicated."

"Okay then," Archie said deciding to drop it. "Well no offence but your food sucks, I'm gonna go home and eat some proper food. Thanks for helping with the homework." Archie scooped all his books into his bag and placed it on his shoulder. "Do you want to walk to school together tomorrow?" Archie asked, they had fallen back into the routine of walking to and from school since he'd broken up with Veronica and Jughead was scarcely at school anymore.

"Yeah sure, I'll meet you out front like usual." Betty replied with a smile.

"Okay well, I'll see you in the morning. Bye Betty." Archie left Betty's house and walked back to his, he couldn't help but admit how much he enjoyed spending time with Betty, she's the only person he would willingly do homework for.

                                                            —————

 At school the next day Betty felt a little off, her stomach seemed to be doing somersaults and she felt anxious, like something big was about to happen. Trying to shake it off she put the queasy stomach down to the odd-looking eggplant lasagna Polly had cooked up last night. Betty decided to pass on lunch and instead sat in the common room by herself, putting the finishing touches on her English essay. As the bell sounded to indicate the end of lunch Betty made her way to her locker to stash some of her books before the lesson. Opening the locker Betty was shocked to find a gift-wrapped box sitting in her locker, glancing around Betty reached into her locker and pulled out the box, gently lifting the lid she peeked inside. Lay on a bed of tissue paper was a pale pink leather bounded journal with a matching writing pen, smiling to herself Betty removed the book from the box, turning it over in her hands she thumbed through the pages, stopping on the the first page she noticed that someone had already written in it, on the very first page was a quote that read;

_Success is not final,_

_Failure is not fatal:_

_It is the courage to continue that counts._

_Never give up on your dreams Betty_.

Smiling even wider Betty returned the book to its box, closing her locker she made her way towards her English class. Standing outside the room she pulled her phone out to send a quick text.

 **Thank you for the gift, it was very thoughtful. I love it. X** The writing had very clearly been Jughead's handwriting yet the gesture was very unlike him, she found herself wondering what made him chose a notebook and that particular quote, and how did he get the gift into her locker, it definitely wasn't in there this morning. She was so lost in thought that she didn't see that Archie had come to a stop right in front of her.

"Hey, earth to Betty, are you going to class?" Jumping slightly Betty slammed phone into her pocket.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry" Betty turned and made her way into class with Archie following close behind.

"Everything okay?" Betty made her way towards the back of the class, to her and Archie's usual seats.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Hey, have you been in my locker today?" Archie was the only other person in the school who knew Betty's locker combination, maybe he snuck the present in for Jughead.

"No, why do you ask?" Betty found herself staring at him as he answered, it shouldn't have bothered her as much as it did but after all the surprises with the black hood, Betty was nervous about receiving gifts. Shrugging it off Betty decided to just let it go.

"No reason." The teacher chose that moment to silence the students and start his lesson.

Less than halfway through the lesson Betty was struggling, her forehead felt clammy and she was having a hard time concentrating, the words seemed to be dancing on the page. Looking up Betty tried to read what was written on the board but the words refused to come into focus, the dizzying sensation was causing Betty's stomach to flip, bringing her hand up to her mouth Betty fought the urge to vomit.

"Betty are you okay?" Betty heard Archie ask yet he sounded like he was underwater, without turning to look at him Betty shook her head, the urge to vomit was getting stronger and Betty quickly rose to her feet. Without bothering to ask for a hall pass Betty made a beeline straight from the room. Bursting into the hallway Betty stumbled down the corridor, wave after wave of nausea slammed into her, the vertigo sensation was certainly not helping things. Betty leaned against one of the walls lining the corridor, bracing her back on the wall she slowly slid down, she needed to wait for this dizziness to pass, she couldn't think straight. Sliding further down Betty's head came to rest on the concrete floor, she groaned as the coolness of the flooring came into contact with her red hot cheek. Squeezing her eyes shut she waited for the dizziness to pass. "Betty, shit Betty!" Betty heard Archie yelling her name, he sounded so far away again. She felt as he lifted her arm up and fingers probed her wrist, my god, was he checking her pulse? Surely she didn't look that bad, did she? "Betty, can you hear me?" Betty groaned in response, she heard Archie sigh.

"Archie, I don't feel so good."

"No shit Betty, you look dead. Come on let's get you to the nurse." Archie lifted Betty's arm as if to try and help her to her feet. Betty groaned louder this time.

"No, don't, if you move me, I'll throw up." Betty kept her eyes screwed shut.

"You can't stay here Betty."

"Sure I can, the floor is nice and cool and I'm not in the way."

"Come on, you need to go home." Before Betty could protest she felt the floor disappear from beneath her as Archie scooped her up into his arms. The sudden movement triggered a wave of vertigo which triggered another wave of nausea. Betty buried her face into Archie's chest and fought the urge to vomit all down him.


	5. Tending To The Sick

The nurse took one look at Betty and immediately told her she needed to go home, Archie couldn't blame her, he'd panicked when he'd found her lying in the corridor, she had looked dead, for a brief moment Archie had thought the worst. After Alice had failed to answer her phone Archie had phoned his dad to come and pick them up. His dad hadn't taken much persuading to allow Archie to escort them home, Fred had looked nervously at Betty, like she might drop dead at any second. Archie glanced at over at Betty, she had her head leaning against the window of the car, Archie had never seen anyone actually look a shade of green.

"How are you feeling Betty?" Archie checked. All he received was a groan in response.

"If you are going to be sick, please roll down the window, try not to do it in the car." Archie's dad said whilst staring at Betty through the rearview mirror.

"Dad!" Archie hissed at him.

"I'm okay." Betty mumbled. Pulling up outside their homes Archie raced round to help Betty out of the car. "Do you think you can walk?" Archie asked, Betty nodded unconvincingly. Archie grabbed her arm as she rose shakily to her feet. "I can carry you if you want." Betty shook her head but as she took a step forward her legs hardly moved and she lurched forward, heading face first towards the floor, grabbing her before she could hit the floor Archie pulled her upright and scooped her up bridal style.

"Have you got her Archie?" Fred checked, Archie nodded as he adjusted Betty in his arms. "I'm going to try Alice again, I think she needs to see a doctor." Fred disappeared up the drive as Archie made his way up the stairs to Betty's house.

After juggling Betty and his keys, Archie managed to open the front door and carry Betty upstairs to lay her on her bed, removing her shoes he covered her with a light blanket before reaching up to gently touch her forehead, he could feel the heat radiating off her before his hand made contact.

"Betty, I'm going to get you some water and maybe some Tylenol, you need to bring that fever down." Betty made no acknowledgement that she'd heard him. Rooting through the medicine cabinet in the main bathroom, he found some Tylenol and filled a tumbler with water. Walking back into Betty's room he found her bed empty, his heart skipped a beat as he worried where Betty might have gone but a split second later he heard the sound of heaving coming from her bathroom. "Betty, are you okay?" Archie received no response, all he could hear was the telltale sign of vomiting. Hovering near the door Archie was at a loss of what to do. Upon hearing the sound of Betty crying he threw all caution to the wind and dashed into the bathroom. The sight that greeted him broke his heart. Betty was hunched over the toilet bowl, her cheek rested on the side of the toilet seat as she lay there crying, he watched as Betty reached up with a very shaky hand and flushed the toilet, it looked like it had used all of Betty's energy to do so as her arm flopped back to the floor with a slap. "Oh Betty." Archie said, he walked over to the sink and dampened a washcloth with cool water, walking over to Betty he placed the wash cloth gently on her forehead.

"Go away." Betty tried to protest, she lifted her arm as if to try and push him away but she was too weak to do so. "I'm disgusting." Betty moaned.

"Don't be daft Betty. You're still gorgeous even when you're vomiting." Betty let out a small laugh before groaning once again. After letting Betty sit by the toilet for a few more minutes Archie felt confident enough that she had finished vomiting, ignoring her protests that she could walk by herself, Archie carried her back to bed. "Do you think you could stomach some painkillers? You're very hot." Archie said as he tucked her in once again.

"Why thank you, Archie." Betty giggled slightly.

"Not what I meant Betty." Archie said with a roll of his eyes. "Your fever is obviously making you delirious." Archie watched as Betty reached out and carefully swallowed two Tylenol, drinking as little water as possible. "I'm going to see if my dad managed to get in touch with your mum, do you need me to get you anything?" Betty shook her head without opening her eyes.

Archie found his dad sat in Betty's living room, he informed Archie that Betty's mother was stuck in a meeting out of town, she wanted to know if they could keep an eye on Betty until she could get home, unfortunately, he had to get back to work so Archie volunteered to look after Betty. His dad left with instructions on what to do if Betty got any worse, he seemed pretty confident it was just a bad case of stomach flu but wanted Archie to be cautious.

Walking back into Betty's room he found her bed empty once again, checking in the bathroom he found Betty curled up on the floor next the toilet, wrapped in a blanket. "Do you want to get back in bed?" Archie asked, kneeling down beside her he moved some of the hair from her face, parts of her hair had stuck to her forehead with sweat.

"No, I want to stay near the toilet." Betty groaned, Archie grabbed another washcloth and once again dabbed Betty's forehead. Filling a glass with water he placed it besides Betty before leaning back against the bathtub. "You don't have to stay Archie, I'll be fine."

"I don't mind." Archie said honestly, he would do anything for Betty, even if that meant sitting in a bathroom that reeked of vomit. "This is getting me out of school remember." Archie heard nothing from Betty and looking over he could see she had fallen asleep, standing up from the floor he stretched and made his way into Betty's room. As he sat down on Betty's bed his eyes glanced around her room before coming to land on a bunch of flowers on Betty's dresser. Archie had given Jughead a list of gifts that Betty might like including her favourite flowers. Archie leapt up from the bed, he'd completely forgotten about Jughead, maybe he should ring him, he is, after all, Betty's boyfriend, he'd probably want to be the one taking care of her. Pulling his phone out of his pocket Archie dialled Jughead's number, just as Archie was about to hang up Jughead finally answered, there was a lot of background noise that eventually faded out before Jughead spoke. "Archie, hey man, what's up?"

"Not much, am I interrupting anything?" It sounded like Jughead was in the middle of something.

"Not really, just going over some serpent stuff at the Whyte Wyrm."

“Well, I was just ringing to let you know Betty's come home from school, she's pretty sick."

"Really? Is she okay? Is it anything serious?" Jughead questioned, Archie noted he sounded nothing but concerned.

"She was pretty bad at school, my dad thinks it's just stomach flu, she's currently sleeping on the bathroom floor."

"Shit, I erm, I need to finish up here, but I'll be there as soon as I can. Would you mind staying with her until I get there?"

"Of course I don't mind."

"Thanks Archie, I really appreciate this." He hung up without saying goodbye, Archie took one last look at the flowers before going to check on Betty again.

Feeling her forehead Archie could tell she was still running a fever, peeling the blanket off her he picked her up and carried her to the bed, she groaned slightly but didn't wake up. Archie opened Betty's window as wide as it would go, she'd obviously not been able to keep the Tylenol down so Archie was going to have to try and keep her cool. Archie had been watching Betty for a couple of hours before he heard the front door open, sitting up he listened as footsteps raced up the stairs, the door opened slowly and Jughead peered around the door.

"Hey, hows she doing?" He asked with a whisper.

"Better I think," Archie replied, moving from his spot at the end of Betty's bed he made his way towards the door. "She hasn't been sick in over an hour so I'm taking that as a good sign, she's still got a high fever though. When she wakes up try and get her to take some Tylenol, it'll help bring the fever down." Jughead nodded in response, he walked further into the room and took Archie's spot at the bottom of the bed. "I'm gonna head home now, ring me if you need anything, her mom should be home anytime soon."

"I will do, and Archie, thanks man." Archie nodded in his direction, he glanced down at Betty one last time before continuing out the door.

Back at home Archie flopped on his bed, he found himself thinking of Betty, he hadn't been that worried about Betty's since they were kids and she'd fallen out of a tree and broke her arm. Seeing her lying on the floor in the corridor Archie had automatically thought the worst, he shuddered as he thought this. He'd been having feelings like this ever since the night of the riots, when he'd arrived home to find Betty's father being escorted away in handcuffs, he can remember how casually Betty had informed him that her dad was the black hood. Archie had hated himself at that moment, he was so angry that instead of being there to help Betty, he had been chasing Veronica around Riverdale after she chose to put herself in harm's way, meanwhile, Betty was left fighting off the black hood alone. He'd had nightmares ever since, they all involved Betty being harmed or killed by her father, Archie could only watch, powerless to stop it. His father had told him he was struggling with some form of PTSD, which made no sense, he hadn't even been there that night, Betty had never spoken to him about it, he could only imagine how terrified she must have been.

Jerking awake to the sound of his phone pinging Archie glanced outside his window, it was dark out, Archie must have fallen asleep. Checking his phone he saw a text from Betty waiting.

**How come you left?**  Archie climbed out of bed and walked over to his window, glancing across to Betty's window he could see her curtains were shut and Betty's room appeared to be dark. Sending her a message back Archie wondered what she meant by that.

**Jughead arrived, I thought you'd prefer to have him look after you.**

**You were wrong.**  Archie looked at his phone confused, what did she mean by that, did she not want Jughead to be around her when she was ill. About what?

**Are you feeling any better?** Archie waited but after twenty minutes of no reply, he concluded she must have fallen back to sleep. Glancing at the clock Archie decided against going downstairs for some food and instead stripped out of his clothes and climbed back into bed.


	6. Thinking about you

Archie awoke the next morning feeling more than well rested, he’d had over 10 hours sleep. Grabbing a quick breakfast to go he walked next door to see how Betty was doing. Alice answered the door looking flustered.

“Good morning Archie, Betty’s not going to school today.”

“I thought as much, is she doing any better?” Archie asked as he followed Alice into the kitchen.

“Not really, I heard her throwing up through the night, she attempted some soup but it sat on her stomach for all of two seconds.” Alice said pulling her face.

“Is there anything you need me to get whilst I’m out.”

“If you could grab any schoolwork she’ll need I’m sure Betty will appreciate it.” Alice said with a smile.

“Will do Mrs Cooper. I’ll pop round after school.”

“Thank you Archie. You really are good to Betty.” Archie smiled, he knew Betty would do the exact same for him were the situation reversed.

As lunchtime rolled around Archie was becoming fed up with the day. His lessons seemed to be dragging, he’d messaged Betty to see how she was doing but had received no reply, there had been no answer on the house phone either, Archie wondered if Alice had gone to work leaving Betty all alone. This didn’t sit right with Archie, he worried about her being all alone whilst she was so poorly.

Walking home at lunch Archie decided he’d pop in and see her, make sure she was okay before going back to school. Knocking on her front door Archie waited but no one answered, letting himself in using his key he walked up the stairs and knocked on Betty’s door.

“Betty, it’s Archie, can I come in.” He shouted out.

“Yeah.” He heard Betty grumble from within, pushing open the door he found Betty lay on her bed watching a movie on her laptop.

“Hey,” Archie greeted her, “you look better today.” It was true, Betty looked like she had colour in her cheeks today.

“Thanks, I feel a little better.” Archie smiled at her

“I’ve been worried about you,” Archie admitted. “How come you didn’t message back?”

“Sorry, I kept falling asleep.” Betty said sheepishly. “Aren’t you suppose to be at school.” She questioned him.

“It’s lunch, thought I’d come and see if you’re okay. Do you need anything?” Betty shook her head.

“No, I still can’t stomach any food.” Betty said pulled me her face.

“Okay, well I know it’s probably the last thing on your mind but I’ve picked up any schoolwork you’ve missed from your teachers.” Betty smiled at him, a real genuine smile.

“Thank you Archie, that really means a lot.”

“It’s no problem. I’ll drop it off after school. Speaking of which, I’d better get back, wouldn’t want to be late.”

“Thank you for coming to check on me.” Betty said, Archie couldn’t be sure but it looked like she had tears in her eyes.

“Again no problem, just next time please respond to my messages or I might just have to walk out of my lesson to make sure you’re ok.” Betty laughed at him but Archie was being serious, it took everything in him to wait till lunch, he’d gotten here in record time.

“I will do, I promise.”

“Right, well message me if you need anything picking up on the way home from school. See you later Betty.” Archie leaned over and placed a small kiss on Betty’s forehead, pulling back he smiled and walked out of the room, he had no idea what compelled him to kiss Betty, she just looked so small and delicate and he found himself wanting to kiss her better.

                                                       —————

Betty watched as Archie walked from the room, closing her door gently behind him. Reaching up she rubbed her fingers over the spot where Archie’s lips had been moments ago. Why on earth had he kissed her? Yes, it had only been a peck on the forehead but it was just so out of the ordinary for Archie, no doubt he just felt sorry for Betty, she probably looked a right state. Climbing carefully out of her bed, Betty stumbled towards her bathroom, greeted by the smell of stale vomit Betty dry heaved, thankfully there was nothing in her stomach to come up. Leaning over the sink Betty stared at her reflection in the mirror, no wonder Archie had looked worried, she looked horrendous. Her hair was stuck to her scalp and her face looked deathly pale. Switching on the shower Betty decided that a quick wash might make her feel a bit more human.

After showering and changing into some fresh pyjamas Betty sat back in bed, her hair was still damp, she’d towel dried it as much as she could, she just really did not have the energy to get her hairdryer out. Lying back against her pillows Betty felt drained, she checked her phone but found no messages from the one person she expected to hear from. Jughead had left pretty quickly last night, he hadn’t even given her a reason, he’d gotten a message on his phone and said he’d had to go. Betty shouldn’t have been surprised but she couldn’t help feeling hurt that he chose the serpents over her.

“Betty.” Betty jerked awake, opening her eyes she spotted Archie standing over her. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you, I’ve been calling your name, didn’t you hear me?” Betty shook her head, her heart was still racing, she hadn’t even heard him come in.

“Sorry I was sleeping, I must have been well out of it.” Archie looked at her worryingly.

“Are you feeling any better?”

“Yeah, actually I am.” Betty replied honestly, a shower and sleep seemed to have worked wonders for her.

“You do look much better.” Archie told her as he placed his school bag next to him on the floor. “Do you feel like trying something to eat?”

“Whoa, let’s not get too crazy.” Betty joked. “I’ll make sure I can keep water down before I get too adventurous, I hate being sick.” Betty frowned, Archie nodded at her. Taking a seat next to Betty on the bed, he reached down and unzipped his bag.

“I grabbed your schoolwork, you didn’t miss much though.” Archie pulled the books out and placed them between him and Betty, “Oh and I found this on the doorstep.” Archie pulled a box out and passed it to Betty. Betty’s heart raced as she held the small gift-wrapped box, her hands trembled slightly. “Is everything okay Betty?” Archie asked her, she nodded, this was ridiculous, she couldn’t let the black hood continue to control her life, he was locked up, for good.

“Yeah it’s just, it’s silly really, it’s just the last gift that was left here for me was... a severed finger from the black hood.” Betty rushed out, it sounded ridiculous as it poured out of her mouth, she expected Archie to laugh at her so she was shocked when he pulled her into a bone crushing hug.

“Betty, I completely forgot, I’m so sorry, I didn’t even think.” Betty pulled back to look at him, why was he sorry, the gift wasn’t from him, was it? “Jughead wouldn’t have known, and I just brought it up, I didn’t think.” Archie rambled on.

“Wait,” Betty interrupted him, “how do you know it’s from Jug?”

“I erm, read the gift tag, it’s his handwriting.” Betty hadn’t even noticed the gift tag. Turning it over she could see that Archie was right, it’s was Jughead’s writing.

_A little treat for someone sweet_.

That was all that was written. Ripping the wrapping paper off Betty gently lifted the lid off the box, peering inside Betty could see a small sweet jar containing her favourite sweets, strawberry Bonbons. Any other time Betty would be delighted to receive her favourite sweet but just the sight of them caused Betty’s stomach to flip. Pushing them to the side with a look of disgust Betty heaved into her hand.

“What’s wrong?” Archie said grabbing the box to check the contents. “I thought you liked BonBon’s.”

“I do, just not right now.” Betty heaved again but this time she didn’t win the battle to keep the contents of her stomach down, racing towards the bathroom she heard Archie grumble behind her.

“You’re an idiot Jughead.” Betty didn’t have time to wonder what he was going on about, she only just made it to the toilet as the glass of water made a reappearance.


	7. A Change Is Coming

Archie could only listen as Betty retched into the toilet bowl. Shaking his head he grabbed the jar of sweets and made his way downstairs to hide them.

 _Jughead is such an idiot,_ Archie thought to himself, he should have known the last thing Betty would have wanted was sweets. Archie had given Jughead a list of gifts Betty would love, judging by the sweets arriving today jughead was following the list in order. After hiding the sweets at the back of one of the cupboards Archie pulled his phone out to message Jughead.

**Try to avoid giving any more food gifts until Betty feels better. Your sweets just made her hurl.**

Archie filled a glass with water and made his way back up to Betty. She was just climbing back into bed as Archie arrived.

“I’ve hidden the sweets in a cupboard downstairs and here,” Archie held out the glass of water. “I’ve brought you some fresh water.” Taking the cup from him Betty took a small sip before placing the glass on her bedside table. Archie sat down on the end of her bed and pulled his books from his bag, sorting through the work he separated Betty’s work from his. “So, is Jughead gonna call round again today?” Archie asked.

“I’m not sure, I haven’t heard from him today.” Betty said as she lay against her pillows.

“He hasn’t checked in with you, at all?” Betty shook her head in response. Archie was shocked, how could he not check to make sure she was okay, she’d been in such a bad state yesterday Archie had been worried all day.

“Nope, I have no idea what a serpent leader actually does but involves being stuck at the Whyte Wyrm all day unable to speak to anyone outside of Southside.” Betty did not look impressed as she said this. “I should have taken him up on the offer to become the queen, I might actually have seen him more.”

“Wait a minute,” Archie stopped her as he registered what she had just said. “Jughead asked you to be the queen of the serpents,” Betty nodded at him. “Is he for real, why would he do that, try and make you a leader of a dangerous gang.”

“Archie,” Betty scolded him. “some of the members of that ‘dangerous gang’ are our friends and at one point I wanted nothing more than to be a member myself.”

“So why’d you turn him down?” Archie asked, he was more than happy that she did, he really did not want to see his best friend become a leader of the serpents.

Betty shrugged her shoulders. “I was worried I’d lose myself if starting hanging around the serpents too long, I don’t want to end up like my dad, dark and full of hatred, I was afraid I drown in the sea of my own darkness if I became one of them.”

Archie stared at her as she opened up, his heart broke as she tried to compare herself to her dad. “Betty you can’t honestly think you are anything like your dad.”

Betty shrugged her shoulders. “I rather just play it safe either way. So what did I miss at school.” Archie couldn’t miss her not so subtle attempt at a subject change.

“Not much, same old stuff different day,” Archie smirked. “You did get quite a bit of homework though, that should keep you busy.” Betty sat up slightly and thumbed through the paperwork.

“I’ll start on it tomorrow, I’m too exhausted to even attempt any of that.” She lay back down on the pillows and closed her eyes.

“Do you want me to go so you can get some rest?” Archie asked, Betty’s eyes flew open.

“No, I mean you don’t have to leave. It gets quite boring being stuck in bed all day. Do you want to stay and watch a film.” She bent down to pick her laptop up from the floor, sitting back she leant against the wall placing the laptop on her legs, she patted the space beside her to signal Archie to sit beside her.

“I thought you were tired.”

“I’ve slept all day. I just need to rest not sleep.” Relenting Archie moved to sit next beside her, snatching the laptop from her he placed it on his knees.

“Fine, but I get to pick the film.”

“Deal” Betty said smiling.

Halfway through the movie, Archie glanced over at Betty, she had drifted off at some point and currently had her head rested on Archie’s shoulder. He watched her while she slept, she was looking a lot better, she had a bit of colour back into her cheeks. Archie reached up to hold her head in place as he moved to sit up, gently lowering Betty back down onto the pillows he then covered her with a blanket.

Betty groaned slightly in protest. “No, don’t go, I’m awake, finish the film.” Betty mumbled to him, Archie laughed.

“Would have been more believable if you could open your eyes.” He joked. “Sleep Betty, I’ll come and see you again tomorrow.” Betty frowned and pouted at Archie, actually pouted, Archie’s heart raced, she looked so cute, all he could think was how much he wanted to kiss that pout. Seizing control of himself he shook his head, settling for an innocent kiss he leaned forward and kissed her forehead once again, he let his lips linger for a little while before pulling back. “Goodnight Betty.”

“Goodnight Archie.” Betty’s words were slurred and hardly audible but Archie heard it. Walking from Betty’s room he quietly closed the door behind him and made his way home. Archie should have felt guilty about acting on his feelings, sure it was just a kiss on the forehead, innocent enough between friends, except it wasn’t innocent to Archie.

Betty wasn’t in school again the next day, not that Archie could blame her. He’d been messaging her all day and she was, at least, messaging back today. She’d let Archie know that although she hadn’t thrown up today she was still exhausted and nauseous. Archie had offered to call in at lunch again but Betty had told him not to bother, her mother was working from home today so she wasn’t alone. Archie decided to grab a quick lunch to go and sit in the common room, with no Betty and Jughead, there wasn’t really anyone he wanted to eat with. As he scrolled through his phone he became aware that he wasn’t alone in the room, lowering his phone he spotted Veronica sat on the sofa across from him, when she spotted him looking she gave a small smile.

“Hey.” She said to which Archie acknowledged with a nod. Their breakup had been tough on the both of them, whilst Archie had always known that he wouldn’t be with Veronica forever he hadn’t expected things to end so abruptly between them. They’d had fun together and he really did love her in some way, it paled greatly in comparison to his feeling about Betty, they seemed to be growing greatly recently. “So, I, um noticed Betty hasn’t been in school, is she ok?” Veronica asked, it was very rare for Archie to hear her nervous, she always oozed confidence in everything she did.

“She’s been ill, she’s doing better though, she might be back in tomorrow.”

“Well, when you see her will you tell her I hope she feels better soon.” Veronica looked so down.

“Are you two still not speaking?” Archie asked, he had no idea why they had fallen out but they hadn’t spoken to each other since Archie was arrested.

“No, she won’t answer any of messages or calls, I think it’s best to just give her a bit of time, she’s not the only one in the school who hates me.”

“Veronica no one hates you, and Betty of all people should know that you can’t be held accountable for your father’s actions.”

“But that’s where Betty and I differ incredibly, I knew what my father was up to and I helped support it. Betty had no idea that her father was running off into night murdering people” Archie didn’t know what to say to that, after all his relationship with Veronica had fallen apart for the same reason.

“Well, I should get going.” Veronica said as she picked her bag up from the floor. “It was nice talking to you again Archie.” She said with a soft smile. Archie had to agree, it was nice, he and Veronica had always been good friends, he hoped that one day they could be once again.


	8. A Meaningful Mistake

Betty was feeling much better by the time lunchtime rolled around, she’d braved a couple of crackers and managed to keep them down. After having a shower and changing her bed sheets Betty opened her windows, it was beginning to smell a bit ripe in her room. Flopping down on her bed Betty tried to catch her breath, not eating for three days tends to deplete your energy. Reaching for her phone as it started ringing, Jughead’s name flashed across the screen. Betty sighed, she hadn’t spoken to him at all yesterday.

“Hey Jug.” She answered as polite as possible, once again her enthusiasm for this relationship had been zapped, why should she bother putting any energy into it if Jughead wasn’t.

“Hey Betty, how are you feeling?”

“Better today, thanks.”

“Listen I’m sorry about yesterday, things were a bit hectic over here, I couldn’t get away.”

“It’s fine.” Betty sighed, it really wasn’t fine but she didn’t want to get into it over the phone.

“I’m sorry about the gift making you sick, I didn’t realise you were still so poorly.”

“Well you wouldn’t do, would you?” Betty snapped.

“Betty that’s not fair, you know things have been crazy here since the ghoulies killed one of our own, they want blood, I’m trying to prevent an all-out war.”

“I understand that Jug, it doesn’t mean I have to be happy about being the neglected girlfriend.”

“I offered you the chance to be part of this Betty, you turned me down remember.”

“And I told you I don’t want to be part of the serpents anymore, don’t you think I’ve had enough killings for a lifetime, I don’t want to be part of a gang that’s out seeking blood.” How could Jughead expect that from her, after what her father put her though Betty didn’t want to be responsible for any more deaths.

“Betty I’m sorry.” Jughead started before Betty cut him off.

“Just forget it Jughead, I have to go.” Ignoring his pleas from down the phone Betty hung up. God he could be so obtuse sometimes Betty found herself thinking. Betty wandered downstairs in search of some light food to snack on, walking into the kitchen she spotted a gift-wrapped box on the table, checking the tag she noticed it was another gift from Jughead, she rolled her eyes, what was with the constant gift giving recently, it was so out of character for him. Opening the box Betty lifted the gift from the tissue paper. Turning the book over in her hands Betty gasped, it was a copy of her favourite book, Beloved by Toni Morrison. Judging by the grey cloth board cover it was a collectors edition. How did Jughead know this was her favourite book, she hadn’t read it in years, this was the first book of Toni Morrison’s that she’d read, Toni Morrison had become her literary hero thanks to this book. Betty took the book up to her room, she placed it carefully on her bed, reaching into her closet she pulled out her old tattered copy, where it had lived for the last few years. As Betty stared at the books realisation dawned on her, Archie, it had to be Archie helping Jughead pick out these gifts, he’s the only one who knows who her all-time favourite author is, he also the only person she’s spoken to about her loss of motivation when it came to writing, which made the notebook with the quote make sense, it had to be Archie, Betty found herself smiling.

                                                    —————

After walking home from school Archie went straight over to Betty’s, he lightly knocked on her bedroom door before entering, Betty had already messaged to say he could come over, he was only knocking to be polite. He found Betty sitting on her bed, laptop and books spread before her.

“I see you’re feeling better.” Archie said gesturing at all the school books.

Betty sighed, “Yes, so much better, I’ve managed to keep some food down today.” She said with a smug grin, Archie smiled back at her.

“That’s great Betty, I’m glad your better.” Shoving some books aside he took a seat beside her. “I grabbed your work for you, you’re probably the only person to ever worry about missed school work while they’re off sick. I’d love to have the excuse to miss out on some homework.”

“Trust me Archie you do not want to go through what I just experienced, I thought I was going to die at one point, I didn’t realise a person could vomit that much.” She visibly shuddered as she remembered. “Plus I can’t afford to fall behind, not with all the extra credit I’ve picked up.”

“I don’t know how you do it, I struggle with just my normal classes.” Archie said whilst shaking his head.

“You do fine Archie, you haven’t failed yet.”

“Yeah, that’s because I have you to help me.” He nudged her shoulder with his causing her to giggle. “Speaking of which, we’ve got a ton of math work that I do not understand.” Betty rummaged through her books and pulled her math homework to the top, Archie could see she’d already managed to complete the worksheet.

A couple of hours later and Archie had almost got to grips with the problems, groaning he slammed the book shut. “My brain can’t take anymore.” He moaned.

“We’ve almost finished Archie, come on” Betty said trying to motivate him.

“No, no more, we need a break, why don’t we finish the film from last night.”

“Archie.” Betty looked at him disapprovingly, she’s the type of person who likes to get things done there and then, she always has been, Archie has always been quite happy to leave it till the last minute. “Come on Betty, we’ll finish the movie then get right back to it, I promise.” Archie smiled as he watched Betty’s resolve falter, she huffed with a smile on her face as she moved the books off the bed leaving the laptop on her legs. Archie took a seat next to Betty and they settled into the same positions they had been the night before.

Partway through the movie Archie became very aware of how close he and Betty were, their shoulders were touching and their thighs were pressed firmly together, Archie felt his heart start to race, they were innocent enough touches but Archie couldn’t help but be very aware of Betty’s presence. Betty stretched out beside him and Archie realised the film was over, he hadn’t even been paying attention, he’d been too preoccupied with Betty’s presence and the tingling sensation her skin on his was causing.

“Well, that film didn’t totally suck.” Betty said with a half smile.

“Yeah, it’s one of my favourite films” Betty had moved the laptop from her legs and sat facing Archie with one leg tucked under her.

“I can see why.” Betty said smiling at him again. Archie felt the air around them change, it seemed to become charged with tension, he could hear his pulse pounding in his ears. Without thinking about it Archie leant forwards and captured Betty’s lips with his. His mind ceased to function as he kissed her with all the passion he could muster. It took Archie a while to realise Betty was kissing him back, her lips were moving in rhythm with his, Archie deepened the kiss, reaching up he cupped the back of her head with his hands, at the same time he felt Betty’s hand weave through his hair, pulling him closer to her. The rest of the world seemed to fade away leaving only him and Betty suspended in time, he never wanted this moment to end. Betty’s hands disappeared from his hair and reappeared on his chest, with a slight push she shoved him away from her. Sitting back Archie struggled to catch his breath, looking over at Betty he could see she was panting as well. “Archie.” She gasped out, a look of hurt fell over her face.

Oh no, Archie thought, what the hell did I just do. “Betty, I.. I’m so sorry.”

Betty held her hand up to stop him. “I think you should leave.” Her voice sounded so small and it pierced Archie’s heart.

“Betty, please.” She looked down at the bed shaking her head. Archie had fucked up, he couldn’t leave it like this, he couldn’t risk his friendship over a stupid careless moment. He opened his mouth to speak but Betty cut him off.

“I think it’s best if you just went home Archie.” She said without looking at him. Archie stood up and gathered his bag together. Walking towards the door he glanced back at Betty, she continued to look down at her quilt, she wouldn’t even look at Archie.

“Please don’t hate me Betty.” Archie said as he walked out the door.

Walking into his bedroom he slammed his bag down on his bed, glancing out his window he could see Betty had already closed her blinds. How could he have been so stupid, he hadn’t even thought about it, one minute he was looking at Betty the next he was lunging at her. She was never going to forgive him for this.


	9. Guilt, The Gift That Keeps On Giving

Betty continued to stare at the door Archie had just disappeared through. What the hell had just happened. One minute they were talking about the movie the next Archie was kissing her, and Betty had loved it, the second their lips had touched all conscious thought had left Betty and all she could think about was Archie and how much she wanted him, throughout the kiss she had never felt so much need, she needed more of him, she wanted more of him, until Jughead’s face flashed before her, guilt slammed into her and she had shoved Archie away as though he had burned. Wave after wave of guilt washed over her, she had just cheated on Jughead, with Archie of all people, she might not be happy with Jughead at the moment but he didn’t deserve this. What made it worse was that Betty couldn’t stop thinking about kissing Archie, the feelings it stirred within her were like nothing she’d ever felt before, she couldn’t stop thinking about how much she wanted to kiss Archie again. Groaning loudly she climbed out of bed and slammed her blinds shut, out of sight out of mind she deduced. Her eyes landed on the flowers that Jughead had sent her and the guilt increased tenfold, so Archie may have chosen the gifts but Jughead had still tried to save their relationship, and how did she repay him? By kissing their best friend. Flopping down on her bed Betty stared at the ceiling and wondered what was going to happen now, she was going to have to tell Jughead, she owed him that much, her relationship was as good as over the moment she did though. Jughead had struggled with the idea of their last kiss and they hadn’t even been together. He was never going to forgive her, not that she deserved it.

The next morning Betty woke up feeling terrible, she hadn’t slept very well, her mind kept drifting back to the kiss then she’d feel guilty for thinking about it, for enjoying it. Sulking downstairs Betty told her mother she wasn’t going in again today, for the first time in her life Betty pulled a sickie to get out of school, she must have looked terrible because her mum didn’t argue with her. Climbing back into bed Betty curled up and thought about how she could break the news to Jughead, there was no easy way she could do it, but she wanted to do it sooner rather than later, it would probably be worse the longer she left it. Betty listened as she heard a knock at the door, her heart leapt into her throat, there was no way this could be Jughead, could it, he’d never called this early. Listening carefully she breathed a sigh of relief when she heard her mother greet Archie, she listened as her mother told Archie that she wouldn’t be in again today. She froze when Archie ask if he could pop up and see her, thankfully her mother saved the day by saying she was sleeping, hearing the front door close she finally relaxed. Two minutes later her phone dinged with a message, hesitating slightly she picked the phone up and saw a message from Archie, she wasn’t sure she wanted to read it but reluctantly she opened it.

**Your mom said you’re not coming in today, hope your feeling ok. I’m so sorry Betty.**

Betty couldn’t think of anything to reply with so she didn’t. Waiting until her mom had left for work Betty messaged jughead asking him to ring her, he phoned Betty shortly after she’d got out the shower.

“Hey, Betty, how are you feeling today?”

“I’m better,” she said, guilt ate away at her as he sounded so caring. “Are you busy right now?” She asked him, she might have been an awful person but she was decent enough not to do this over the phone.

“No I’ve only just woken up, why what’s up?”

“I was just wondering if you could call over.”

“Now?” Jughead asked, it was just going up to ten am, it wasn’t that early.

“Unless you’re too busy.”

“No, no” jughead interrupted. “I just need to get ready and I’ll be over.” Saying their goodbyes Betty hung up the phone. Her hands were shaking and she felt nervous, this was the hardest thing she’d ever had to do. She might not be madly in love Jughead anymore but she still cared about him.

Betty found herself tidying her room as a way to keep herself busy and before she knew it Jughead was knocking on the door. Racing down the stairs Betty stopped in front of the door, taking a deep breath she reached out and opened the door.

“Hey.” Jughead smiled at her, Betty quickly turned around and walked towards the living room. “You look better.”

“Thanks,” Betty said taking a seat on the sofa. “Jughead we need to talk.” Betty cringed as soon as the words left her mouth, nothing good ever came after that sentence and judging by the look on Jughead’s face he knew this too.

“Betty, I’m sorry about the last few days, I know I haven’t been there for you and I only have myself to blame.”

“Jughead it’s fine that’s not-” Betty started before she was interrupted.

“No, it’s not, my priority should be you, I know that, I guess I didn’t realise how much the serpents would take over my life, but Betty if I have to choose between the serpents and you, I choose you.”

“You don’t have to do that Jug.” Betty didn’t think it was possible to feel more guilty than she already did.

“I do Betty, you should come first, not them”

“I kissed Archie.” Betty blurted out, she couldn’t take hearing how Jughead wanted to make all these changes for her when he didn’t know what kind of person she was. She watched his face as he tried to comprehend what she’d just said.

“Betty, I already know this, Cheryl told me, remember.” Betty shook her head, tears were welling in her eyes, she watched as Jughead’s face fell. “When?” He asked with an eerie calmness to his voice.

“Last night.” Betty whispered, Jughead’s breathing hitched and he took a step backwards from Betty, she rose to her feet and tried to approach him but he held up his hand to keep her back, the rejection stung. “I’m so sorry.” Betty started. “I wish I could take it back I really do.”

“Don’t Betty, just don’t. How, why?” The words tumbled out of his mouth, Betty was unsure whether she was supposed to answer, did he really want to know? “How could you do this to me?”

“I…” Betty didn’t know how to answer, tears were now sliding down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry Jug”

“How could you?”

“I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry.”

“No. Shut up. You’ve hurt me, whether you meant to or not means nothing. Your apology doesn’t get to be a fucking justification to make yourself feel better.” Betty could say nothing, she deserved all of that and more, Jughead turned and walked towards the door.

“No, Jug please don’t go.” Betty sobbed after him, she couldn’t let him leave, not like this.

“Betty, if I stay I’m going to end up saying something I regret, you need to let me go.” Betty said nothing as she watched him walk away, as the door slammed shut she dropped to the floor as sobs shook her body.


End file.
